Homemade Whole Wheat Rolls
Ingredients
¾ cup warm water 100-110 degrees F
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 tablespoons honey
2 to 2 ¼ cups 100% whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
Directions
Mix together water, yeast and honey, Set aside for minutes, or until the mixture gets creamy and a bit bubbly. If the mixture does not bubble, your water may have been too hot or cold or your yeast was bad and you must start over.
Once the yeast mixture has become foamy, add the oil to the water mixture.
In a separate large bowl, mix together 2 cups of flour, vital wheat gluten, and salt.
Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the water mixture. Stir together with a wooden spoon or paddle mixer on a stand mixer until dough just comes together and easily pulls away from the edges of the mixing bowl. If you notice if the dough is too sticky, add 1 tablespoon more flour at a time, until the right consistency is reached.
At this point, change the paddle mixer for the dough hook and knead the dough for 5-7 minutes, or until the dough is soft and just pulls away easily from the mixing bowl. Alternatively, knead by hand until the dough is soft but not sticky.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it into an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Once the dough has doubled, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Shape the dough into a rectangle about ½ inch thick and then cut into 12 equal rectangles. Shape each rectangle into a ball and place each ball into the greased or buttered 7×11 or 9×13 baking dish, evenly spaced apart.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled again, about 60-90 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake the risen rolls for 18-20 minutes or until browned and an internal temperature of rolls reads 190 degrees. Check on the rolls after 12 minutes of baking, and loosely cover with foil if browning too quickly.
